152 RECOKliS (IK rilK al"sii;alian ML'SKTM. 



PSEL'DKCHIS MOllTO'KNSIS, ])e Vis. 



(Plate XXV., tigs. 1-4). 



]'.<eiuhc]n's uiurtoiieiisi.-;, De Yi.s, Aim. Qld. Mus. x., 1911, jt. 24. Id., Fit, 

 Rec. Aiistr. Mus., x., 2, 1913, p. 18 (record only.) /(/., Longman, 

 Mem. Qld. Mus. i., 1912, p. 24. 



J'scKilecJiis jjiirjilii/riacii{' var. )iiiirtoii('iisls, Waite and Longman, Hec. S. 

 Anstr. Mus."i., 3, 1920, p. 175. 



This species was described from a single specimen from Brisbane, 

 Queensland, in 1911. Since then several other specimens have been 

 collected ; one from Bundaberg is in the Queensland Museum, while theie 

 are tliree in the Austialian Museum, one of tliem being fnnn Eidsvold, 

 Burnett Rivei', Queensland, and the othei' froni Willow Tree, New South 

 Wales«. 



Tupe of the species. — I forwarded one of my specimens to Mr. 

 Longman, Director of tlie Queensland Museum with tlie request that he 

 might compare it with De Vis sj)ecies, and he wiote to me as follows : — 

 " Theie is no specimen in the Queensland Museum labelled as the tvpe of 

 r. uiorfoiie)isif<,a,ud no specimen which fully agrees willi De Vis' description. 

 The specimen wliich may have been the type is at least 1250 mm. in 

 length (ir is now coiled) ; body scales 19 rows, ventials 191 ; snbcaudals 

 ol#| 1. It is difficult to recon(Mle the discrepancies in the caudal scales." 



The si)ecimen which is 1250 mm. long, instead of i0o5 as quoted by 

 De Vis, appears to have most of the characteis of his species ; and, counting 

 the tip of the tail, it has 32 single and 28 pairs of snbcaudals, whereas De 

 Vis counted 22 single and 38 pairs ; if it be allowed that De Vis' figures 

 have been revei-sed by a liiji.<iis ruhdul, ov by a printer's ei-ror, tlie dis- 

 ctepancy disappeais. 



A(fU(if(t's. — Waite and Longman, in a ke\- to the species of I'semlecliis, 

 ])!aced 1\ iinntomnisis as a variety of F. intrjilnjrincna. This is evidently 

 eironeims, since the latter species has onl\' 17 rows of scales round the 

 body, whereas V. uiortuneusis has 19. Mr. Longman also wrote to me as 

 follows : — " We liave also two blue-bellied black snakes fiom Pinifiama, 

 Soutli Queensland with 17 i-ows of scales, and these are certainly colour 

 varieties of 1\ iKirphiji incus. A blue-bellied specimen from Bundaberg, 

 which has recently been received alive, and whicli lias 19 scales round tlie 

 body appears to me to be specificall}' distinct. Tliere is tlius a more or 

 less blue-bellied form of the common black snake, /'. jiorph iirinciis, with 

 17 scales; and an allied but aj)|)areiit ly distinct sjiecies, /'. iiKirfnuoisis, 

 with 19 scales." 



The main strut'tuial differences between the two species are as 

 follows: — /'. parfi/i i/riiiciis, scales in 17 i"ows round the body, the frontal 

 shield not broadei- than the siijiiaocular, and only 5-20 of the snbcaudals 



* Tliis specimen was collected V)y Mr. W. W. FrofTijatt, Govt. Entomoloi^ist, and 

 it establislies a new record for tlie specie.s in this State. 



